A Few More Panel Pics

Working with the vinyl was really easy.
I mad sure to soften the edges of my panel so that when I pulled the vinyl tight I would not damage it. I used a squeegee to bond the vinyl tight to the wood. On the underside I am thinking of running a bead of hot glue to make sure the vinyl remains in place. I paid $7 for linear foot of the vinyl which made my buddies laugh because the MDF I "wasted" was only $2. But for what it's worth the panel looks amazing and I know now I'd work with this vinyl all the time. Sometimes I don't like the easy simple "paint it black" fix, but black is so universal and works for so many things. Not sure if locally I could have found this product in different colors, but for my Popeye cabinet the black works. I used the buttons and balltop's to pop the panel with color.

Take Control !

I had some MDF cut down to size so I could have some extra Nintendo panels around.
Was a good thing I did that as I ended up messing one of my panels up.
Not wanting it to go to waste and wanting to work with new materials I decided I would try and cover it in vinyl. I had decided I would mount the joysticks from above, which in reality was a bad idea. While drilling the holes out on the already painted and clear coated panel I had done more damage than anticipated.

I used some wood filler to patch the holes, sanded it smooth, rounded the edges, and then applied the vinyl. I'm really happy with the results.

Soon to be Donkey Kong

Well here he is, the king, Mr. Kong.
This is obviously the before.
I look forward to completing this project.
I'll be sure to post pictures as progress is made.

Liquid Blue

Over on KLOV someone had matched a swatch from a DK cabinet to a stock Behr paint.
"Liquid Blue" was said to be on the money as far as DK's go.
I hadn't had the cabinet in my possession but based on the pictures posted I went and picked up a gallon of Behr "Liquid Blue" paint + primer.

I wont say it's %100, but it's close and it looks good.

Two Control Panels

The other day when I was at Rona I had the guy cut me four extra Nintendo size control panels. Two of which I'll be using for the Popeye project. One in a one player layout, the other two player VS layout.

I managed to get these drilled out today and the painting started.
I'll wrap it up tomorrow and finish them off with some Krylon Triple Thick.
(that stuff is awesome !)

Polished Popeye Plastics

One of my Nintendo cabinets was delivered this past Sunday.
I'm super excited since I get the other cabinet this Saturday.
I've made some good progress in tracking down and buying the parts I need to complete both projects. In fact my Popeye CPO (control panel overlay) arrived this week in the mail. I had the marquee and the bezel was included with the cabinet. My upper and lower marquee brackets should be in this week, side art is paid for and should be on the way to me as I type this. I've located a coin door locally through a buddy of mine from the auctions, we've agreed on a price and he's holding it for me. I've also ordered t-molding for both cabinets.

Today I drilled out my two control panels, one laid out in typical Nintendo VS style, the other standard Popeye. This Popeye cabinet might make it's way for sale at some point and I want to provide options. I thought it would be a good idea to have the two different panels.

This week is the local coin-op auction and I'll be picking up some Sanwa buttons and Crystal Bubble Balltops (also in baby blue)..........I LOVE THESE TOPS ! I've used them on my Bar Top Trio project. I think the control panel is going to look good and fit in well with the existing Popeye colors.

I also managed to print out the Popeye instruction card that goes under the overlay. I did goof however, I should have added a border to it, I ended up stretching the entire thing half an inch. It does get a little cut off, this was only $2 so I'll just do them again.

Side Art On The Way

I'm trying to do all I can so that these projects will completed as quickly as possible. With confirmation that both cabinets are mine (and one paid for) I decided I would order the art work.

At my local Wal-Mart I printed a 5"x7" instruction card for the Donkey Kong.
I got the image from Mike's Arcade who had a hi-res scan @ 300 DPI.
I printed it on glossy paper and I was very happy with the result for $1.

From my art supplier I ordered a set of Popeye and Donkey Kong side art.
He also threw in my Nintendo coin stickers and instruction stickers that go between the bezel and control panel on a Nintendo cabinet. I again got the image from Mike's Arcade.

The Popeye image was custom made from another KLOV'r and looks AWESOME !
I expect my art to be in in just about 10 days.

All the art cost me about $90 Canadian.

Mike's Arcade : http://www.mikesarcade.com/arcade/cards.html

Arcade Art : http://arcadeartlibrary.com/arcade_art/index.php

Got the Paint...and Panels

With two Nintendo cabinets on the way I decided I would do a Kustom Kong MAME cabinet.
It will be on original Nintendo cabinet with a PC housed inside. But to give this project more playability I'm going to use Player 1 & Player 2 start as button 1 & 2.
The second Nintendo cabinet with be a Popeye and wired JAMMA with a VS. control panel layout. Again the idea being that the 2 player JAMMA layout would make it a more desirable cabinet.


I've been searching KLOV high and low for the parts I'll need.
I tracked down my complete Donkey Kong plastics set (bezel, marquee, and complete control panel) for $100 US shipped.
I also managed to track down a Popeye CPO as well as a DK3 marquee.
They should be in this week, I don't need the DK3 marquee, but the price was good.
For the Popeye CPO and marquee I paid $43 US shipped.
Even though I'm going to do the Popeye as a two player cabinet I thought it would be a cool idea to have an original 1 player Popeye panel.
I'm thinking I'd like to try and wire both panels into a molex connectors. Then I can easily swap out the control panels.

I've tracked down my upper and lower brackets on KLOV also, I'm just waiting on confirmation of the sale. They are $35 US shipped.

Over and above that I went to my local Rona store yesterday and picked up some MDF for the control panels. They no longer do free cuts but the guy was nice and cut me four panels. I only need two (VS panel/1 player Popeye) but the MDF can actually yield 5 panels.

Picked up some Behr "liquid blue" premium paint + primer, a member over on KLOV had this color matched to a DK cabinet. The DK and Popeye will be the same color so I picked up a gallon. It's the best Behr paint and cost me $54 for the gallon.